Assassin's Creed Rogue Announced for Xbox 360 and PS3

In a public relations stunt aimed at appeasing those few people who don't own a current generation console, Ubisoft is releasing a last-generation-exclusive Assassin's Creed, with the mysterious surname Rogue.

Well it's not entirely mysterious, being that the name Rogue is explained immediately within the first ten seconds of the reveal video.

Dressed in traditional Assassin's garb, yet donning Templar insignia, the prevailing theory is that at one time the new character was once an Assassin, but some event disillusioned him to the Assassin's cause--which wouldn't be too surprising given the history within the Assassin leadership to be super evil and uncool--and now Shay is off to seek vengeance against those he perceives as responsible. One might say he's "gone rogue."

According to Ubisoft the game will be the last of the AC games set within North America, the timeline being the 18th century during the Seven Years' War. To leave North America in style, Rogue will be set within such iconic North American locations as New York City and the Arctic Circle. This can only mean one thing: snow maps!

As demonstrated in this picture from Rogue, naval warfare is back, too, and Ubisoft has updated this facet of the game to reflect the unique narrative of Rogue. Players can sail right through ice sheets to discover new locations and use icebergs - the trolls of the Arctic seas - for cover against enemy ships.

What Else is Going On Here?

So there's the basic information any Google search will give you, but I wanted to dig a little deeper into "speculation mode" for this reveal. Knowing the AC franchise as well as I do, I know that the team behind the games has this great love of name-symbolism, so I did a little bit of research.

According to family education's "nameLAB," the origin of the given name Shay is Celtic, which makes sense given the character's heavy Irish accent. The name's meaning is "God's grace," which would seem kind of interesting given what little we know of the character.

According to Behind the Name's research, the name Cormac is generally a first name, and its origin is Gaelic. The meaning of the name is "son of defilement." Spooky, huh? But this falls more within the narrative given in the reveal trailer.

Together the name means "God's grace, the son of defilement," suggesting that this dark and gritty protagonist has more to him than blind vengeance. It might also suggest an antithesis to the general formula for AC titles, in which the protagonist is in "right" and the antagonists are in the "wrong." In this game, there might just be a whole lot of gray.